Homogenising the rainfall record at Durham for the 1870s

Abstract

The rainfall record from the Durham University Observatory (UK) in the 1870s is examined: this decade was a very wet one nationally, but the Durham totals seem too high. Comparison with data from nearby gauges in northeast England and with a more distant gauge at Edinburgh confirms that this is so. The cause is most likely related to a faulty raingauge in use from January 1872; the problem was apparently rectified by August 1879. Analysis confirms inhomogeneities in the original time series; corrections are applied based on nearby raingauges and a smaller 8-inch gauge in use at the Observatory. In the corrected record, 1872 remains the wettest year at Durham and 1877 ranks fifth. However, the 1870s no longer ranks as the wettest decade, the 1930s and 1960s both being slightly wetter.

Changing patterns of heavy rainfall in upland areas: a case study from northern England

“…It is interesting to note that the response at Durham is very different to the other sites. Other than the very wet 1870s (Burt, 2009), Durham summers tended to be much wetter than winters during the latter part of the 19th century whereas in the 20th century, summers have tended to become drier, and winters have become gradually wetter (Burt and Horton, 2007).…”

“…Full details are available in Burt and Horton (2007). Since that paper was published, a homogenous daily record for the period December 1871 to July 1879 has been derived (based on Burt, 2009) and the only gaps (July, September, October, December 1854; January, February 1855) infilled using a comparison with Armagh (R 2 = 35%, n = 2986, p > 0.0001).…”

An analysis of rainfall across the British Isles in the 1870s

“…and Tabony (). We supplemented these data with other very long daily records from Durham (Burt, ), Oxford (Burt and Howden, ) and Armagh (Butler et al , ). Pre‐1874 totals for Stornaway were taken from British Rainfall for the Isle of Lewis (Stornaway) gauge.…”

“…With only 1873 being a dry year, it is not surprising that the 1870s as a whole were well above average, the second wettest decade at Durham since 1850 (exceeded only in the 1930s, which was wet in the north although not further south). Symons noted that the 1870–1879 average was 5% above the 30‐year average and grumbled about the effect of large yearly totals disturbing a comparatively short record (Burt, ).…”

Placing heavy rainfall events in context using long time series: An example from the North York Moors

“…Minor gaps in these records were filled using modified daily values from two nearby rain gauges: Hambleton Greystones (SE 528 830, altitude 271 metres) was used to fill four months and Coxwold Stores (SE 668 974, altitude 70 metres) to fill in nine months and 14 days ( Figure 2). Monthly, seasonal and annual rainfall totals are regularly used to fill gaps in series (Aguilar et al, 2003;Burt, 2009), although no clear guidelines exist for daily totals (Burt and Horton, 2007). Linear regression is commonly used to fill gaps in hydrological series where nearby monitoring stations exist (Aron and Rachford, 1974): this method has been used to modify daily totals from Hambleton Greystones and Coxwold Stores.…”